


Baristas

by placentalmammal



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 06:40:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4337816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/placentalmammal/pseuds/placentalmammal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU where Arcade and Cass are two twenty something college grads, slinging fancy coffees at the local Starbucks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baristas

The phone rang at 3AM. Arcade was sound asleep, folded into the twin bed in the bedroom he'd grown up in. He woke just as the phone stopped vibrating, only conscious enough to paw at the child-sized night table and realize he had one missed call from Cass.

She wasn't in his phone as 'Cass.' She was in his phone as 'hot redhead (call me)' because she had put her number into his phone on his first day at Starbucks, and he'd never gotten around to changing her entry in his contacts.

The phone started vibrating again as he squinted at the 'missed call' screen. It was Cass, and she'd keep calling until he answered. He could answer and deal with her, or he could turn the ringer off and stuff the damned thing into the space between the mattress and the headboard.

He answered it.

"Hello?" he mumbled.

He couldn't hear Cass over the muffled sound of thudding bass. He said 'hello,' again twice, and had almost given up and written it off as a butt dial when she shouted his name. "Arcade? Is that you?"

He was too groggy to make a joke. "Yeah. What?"

"So I went out dancing and I don't know if I can make it to work at 10? Wanna trade shifts?"

"What? No."

He could practically hear Cass' pout. "Come on. You owe me."

That was true. He did owe her. She had caught him hiding out in the walk-in, texting, at least four times in the past month. If she hadn't covered for him, he would probably have been fired. And as much as he hated his job, he needed it. He was saving up money to move out of his parents' house and into a place of his own. He would figure out roommates and location once he'd gotten his first and last months' rent together.

Didn't mean he wanted to take Cass' shift.

"I dunno, you've already gotten me up before noon once."

"Aw, come on."

He rolled over in bed, running his hands through his hair. "No dice, Cassidy. I'll need you to sweeten the deal."

"Blow-job in the walk-in?" She sounded hopeful.

He snorted. "See you're funny. If you weren't funny, I would have hung up on you already." He was awake now. He sat up and put on his glasses.

"Whatever. Trade shifts, and I owe you a favor."

Arcade paused for consideration, then relented. "Fine. But an actual favor, no conditions, no fine print. One favor, to be determined at a later date."

"Alright, thanks. See you later."

"Yeah, whatever. 'Night."

Cass hung up without saying good-bye. Arcade silenced his phone and stuck it in the gap between the mattress and the headboard. He stared at the faded, glow-in-the-dark constellations on the ceiling until he fell asleep, 15 minutes later, musing over the mystery that was Rose of Sharon Cassidy.


End file.
